Katsu don (A bowl of rice topped with pork cutlet and egg, カツ丼)
Katsu don is a very popular donburi (a bowl of rice topped with meat and vegetables) in Japan. There are a variety of katsu don in Japan such as Sauce (vegetable & fruit sauce or Tonkatsu sauce) katsu don, Soy sauce katsu don, Demi (demi-glace sauce) katsu don, Shio (salt) katsu don, Curry katsu don and so on. "Katsu" in Japanese means a short form of "Cutlet". However, Japanese people believe katsu don brings good luck to Japanese students. Japanese students occasionally eat katsu don before the night of an important test or exam. Since “Katsu” also means “To win” in Japanese. When I was in Japan, my mother made me katsu don before the night of my entrance exam. I will introduce a very simple and tasty katsu don using by Hontsuyu (a soup base for noodles) to cook it easily at home.
Ingredients (2 bowls):
- 2-3 *Tonkatsu (Pork cutlets without sauce)
- 1 onion
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 100ml (3.4 floz) of *Hontsuyu
- 250ml (1 US cup) of water
- 2 boiled podded peas (I used snow peas)
- Rice for 2 people
*Hontsuyu is a soup base for noodles. It is basically fish extract, bonito extract, kelp extract, sugar, salt and mixed with soy sauce. -> See Picture A.
Here is how to make it at home. Cooking time is about 20 - 30 minutes. (Without making *Tonkatsu and use leftover *Tonkatsu.)
- Please see how to make *Tonkatsu(pork cutlet) on my different blog post here.
- Cook rice. Meanwhile, cut *Tonkatsu into bite size chunks. Slice onion. Cut boiled podded peas into half size and diagonally.
- Heat the onion in a frying pan with medium heat. Stir for about 3 minutes or until the onion is little soft. -> See picture B.
- Add *Hontsuyu, water, and sugar into the frying pan and simmer for 3 minutes. -> See picture C.
- Add *Tonkatsu, cover and simmer for about 5-7 minutes or until *Tonkatsu absorbs the soup. Remove a lid and flip over the *Tonkatsu occasionally. -> See picture D.
- Whisk eggs in a small cooking bowl. Pour and cover the eggs into 5. and simmer about 3-5 minutes or until the eggs are 3/4 cooked. Remove from heat. -> See picture E.
- Put the cooked rice into a bowl. Pour a half of 6. on top. Add the boiled podded peas on top. Repeat it for 2 bowls.
